Material sales system

ABSTRACT

A computer ( 10 ) of a material supply company calculates a sales price of a material according to a state of production of a product, which is produced using a material supplied from the material supply company, and informs a computer ( 30 ) of a result of the calculation. The state of production of the product is measured by a measurement apparatus ( 32 ), and a result of the measurement is sent to the computer ( 10 ).

This application is the national phase under 35 U.S.C.

371 of PCT International Application No. PCT/JP01/03735 which has anInternational filing date of Apr. 27, 2001, which designated the UnitedStates of America.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a material sales system for supplying amaterial from a material supply company to a product manufacturingcompany and manufacturing a product in the product manufacturing companyusing the material. More specifically, the present invention relates toa material sales system for automatically varying a price of a materialto be sold according to a state of production in a production facility.

BACKGROUND ART

Conventionally, there is known a method of connecting a computer(product sales system) of a product manufacturing company and a computerof a product purchase company via a communication line and sending asales price of a product from the computer of the product manufacturingcompany to the computer of the product purchase company to advise thesales price.

In a material sales system for supplying a material from a materialsupply company to a product manufacturing company and manufacturing aproduct in the product manufacturing company using the material, amaterial price is generally arranged in advance between the materialsupply company and the product manufacturing company. Usually, theproduct manufacturing company requires the material from the materialsupply company meet a quality within a specific specification.

If a material meets the required specification, the material supplycompany often sells the material at a high price as a first gradeproduct. If a material does not meet the required specification, thematerial supply company often sells the material at a low price as anoff-spec product.

However, a specification that the product manufacturing company requiresof the material supply company is not always a specification that isactually needed in manufacturing a product in many cases. In such acase, the material supply company spends production costs, which areessentially unnecessary, in order to observe the specification. As aresult, a material price increases.

In addition, for example, if a material meets 99% of a requiredspecification but does not meet the remaining 1% of the requiredspecification, the material supply company can only sell the material ata low price as a second grade product, that is, an off-spec product, foran application that requires low performance. However, the material canactually be used in the product manufacturing company without anysignificant problem in many cases. In such a case, the material supplycompany suffers a significant damage.

On the other hand, even if the material supply company tries to meet arequired specification, it may be impossible to inspect all materials.Thus, an inappropriate material may be sold to the product manufacturingcompany and cause a problem in manufacturing a product. In such a case,the product manufacturing company suffers detriment despite the factthat it pays a price of a first grade product, and a trouble occursbetween the companies.

Such a trouble is processed between a person of the productmanufacturing company and a person of the material supply company bytelephone communication or the like, which takes a long time.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention has been devised in order to solve theabove-described various problems due to a material price that is fixedby a contract in advance, and it is an object of the present inventionto provide a material sales system that can rationally determine a salesprice in accordance with a level at which a material meets requiredperformance, which is actually necessary for a product, and preventtrouble between a material supply company and a product manufacturingcompany.

According to the present invention, a material sales system is providedwhich is equipped with inputting means for inputting a parameterrepresenting a state of production of a product that is manufacturedusing a material supplied from the material supply company to theproduct manufacturing company, and information processing means fordetermining a sales price of a material using at least the parameterinput by the inputting means and outputting means for outputting thedetermined sales price.

According to the present invention, in the material sales system, theinputting means may be installed in the product manufacturing company.

According to the present invention, in the material sales system, a partof the information processing means may be installed in the productmanufacturing company and another part of the information processingmeans may be installed in the material supply company.

According to the present invention, in the material sales system,communication means may be provided in each of the material supplycompany and the product manufacturing company, and it may be possible tosend and receive at least one of a parameter representing a state ofproduction of a product and a sales price between both the communicationmeans through a communication line.

According to the present invention, in the material sales system, theparameter may be information for calculating a product yield.

According to the present invention, in the material sales system, thematerial may be resin and the product may be a resin product.

According to the present invention, in the material sales system, theproduct may be an optical disk or an optical disk substrate.

According to another aspect of the present invention, a terminalapparatus is provided which is equipped with inputting means forinputting a parameter representing a state of production of a productthat is manufactured using a material supplied from a material supplycompany to a product manufacturing company and outputting means foroutputting information, wherein a sales price of a material isdetermined by an information processing apparatus in the outside usingthe input parameter and the determined sales price of the material isoutputted from the outputting means.

In the present invention, a material means an article that a productmanufacturing company purchases from a material supply company, which isa raw material or a part to be used by the product manufacturing companyin manufacturing a product. For example, if an automobile is a product,a tire, a steel plate, paint, window glass and the like correspond to amaterial. In addition, resin such as polycarbonate that is used inmanufacturing an optical disk is also a material in the presentinvention. In the present invention, resin such as polystyrene,polycarbonate or polypropylene is particularly preferable.

In the present invention, a product means an article that the productmanufacturing company manufactures by processing or combining theabove-described materials. The product of the present invention includesnot only an end product that is manufactured in the productmanufacturing company but also an intermediate product. For example, ina product manufacturing company that manufactures an optical disk, bothan optical disk as an end product and an optical disk substrate as anintermediate product are products. In the present invention, a resinproduct such as a housing, a sheet or an optical disk substrate ispreferable.

The present invention is particularly preferably utilized in the case inwhich a quality of a material contributes significantly in determining astate of production of a product. For example, if polycarbonate is amaterial and an optical disk substrate is a product, since a quality ofthe polycarbonate such as a foreign matter content contributes to ayield of the optical disk substrate significantly, the material salessystem of the present invention is preferably utilized.

In the present invention, a parameter representing a state of a productmeans information for calculating a production efficiency of a productand any parameter relating to a production efficiency, a productionspeed, a quality and the like. More specifically, the parameter includesa material supply amount for manufacturing a product, a productionamount of a product, an amount of defective goods, appropriateness interms of a quality, a material supply amount, a yield, that is, a ratioof a product production amount per a unit material amount, andproductivity, that is, a production amount per a unit time.

In the present invention, inputting means for inputting a parameterrepresenting a state of production of a product means a measurementapparatus, an input terminal or the like for a quality or the like of aproduct. A parameter may be input by a human from a terminal or may bedirectly input from the measurement apparatus. A method of directlyinputting a parameter from the measurement apparatus is preferable inthat a correct value can be input objectively. The inputting means isusually connected to a computer having information processing meansexplained later. An input parameter representing a state of productionis usually stored in a database within the computer and is used fordetermining a sales price of a material by the information processingmeans explained later. The information processing means is preferablyinstalled in a product manufacturing company.

In the present invention, the information processing means fordetermining a sales price of the above-described material using at leasta parameter input by the above-described inputting means is means fordetermining a sales price of a material in accordance with a formuladefined in advance. A different material price is calculated by theinformation processing means according to a value of the parameter.

For example, it is possible to realize a system for setting a highmaterial price if a product yield is high and setting a low materialprice if a product yield is low. A parameter input by the inputtingmeans may be directly used in a formula for price decision or may beonce used for calculating another parameter, which is used for a formulafor price decision. The former example is the case in which a productyield is input by the inputting means and the product yield is used in aformula for price decision. The latter example is the case in which aproduct yield is calculated as another parameter from an amount of amaterial supplied to a manufacturing process and an amount of a productmanufactured in the manufacturing process, which are input by theinputting means, and the product yield is used in the formula for pricedecision.

The above-described information processing means may be installed in aproduct manufacturing company or may be installed in a material supplycompany. In addition, a part of the above-described informationprocessing means may be installed in the product manufacturing companyand another part of the information processing means may be installed inthe material supply company to constitute the information processingmeans as a whole. Such a case is specifically explained as a case inwhich a product yield is calculated by a computer A, which is a part ofthe above-described information processing means, in the productmanufacturing company according to a parameter input by theabove-described inputting means, the calculated product yield istransmitted to the material supply company, and the material supplycompany determines a sales decision price by a formula defined inadvance using the product yield by a computer B, which is another partof the information processing means.

In the present invention, the outputting means for outputting a salesprice is an apparatus for outputting information by some means, and isusually a display or a printer of a terminal. In addition, as the outputapparatus, a disk drive for writing information in a recording mediumsuch as a floppy disk and a communication apparatus for sendinginformation to other information processing apparatuses are included inthe concept of the output apparatus. The outputting means may beinstalled in the material supply company, may be installed in theproduct manufacturing company or many be installed in both thecompanies.

In the present invention, the communication means is means for sendingand receiving at least one of a parameter representing a state ofproduction of a product and a sales price between the material supplycompany and the product manufacturing company through a communicationline. Preferable communication means can be used according to a type ofa communication line such as a modem, a terminal adaptor or an LAN cardthat is incorporated in the above-described computer A or B or connectedto the outside. In addition, an apparatus dedicated to communication maybe simply used. Preferably, it is possible to send and receive at leastone of a parameter representing a state of production of a product and asales price between the material supply company and the productmanufacturing company through a communication line. If the computer Ahaving communication means discussed above and the computer B havingcommunication means are connected by a communication line, theinformation processing means and the communication means may beinstalled in the material supply company, the inputting means and thecommunication means may be installed in the product manufacturingcompany, and both the communication means may be connected by thecommunication line.

The communication line means a line through which information can besent and received by wire or wireless communication. A dedicatedtelephone line or a general public telephone line may be used as thecommunication line. In addition, the communication line may be usedwithin a closed area such as an LAN, or a communication line that ismade public such as the Internet may be used.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a system configuration of a firstembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a flow chart showing processing procedures of a computer 30;

FIG. 3 is a flow chart showing processing procedures of a computer 10;and

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a system configuration of a secondembodiment of the present invention.

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

Embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail withreference to the accompanying drawings.

First Embodiment

FIG. 1 shows a system configuration of a material sales system to whichthe present invention is applied.

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 10 denotes a computer (which is anotherpart of information processing means of the present invention and has amodem or the like as communication means) installed in a material supplycompany, to which a terminal apparatus 11 is connected by an LAN.Reference numeral 11 denotes a terminal apparatus that is capable ofinputting data in the computer 10 and displaying (outputting) storedcontents of a database installed in the computer 10, sales price of amaterial that is determined from a parameter representing a state ofproduction of a product discussed later or a state of a product. Theterminal apparatus 11 functions as outputting means of the presentinvention. Reference numeral 20 denotes a communication line connectinga computer 30 discussed later and the computer 10.

Reference numeral 30 denotes a computer (which is a part of theinformation processing means of the present invention and has a modem orthe like as communication means) installed in a product manufacturingcompany that manufactures a product using a material supplied from thematerial supply company. Reference numeral 31 denotes a productionfacility that manufactures a product using a material supplied from thematerial supply company. Reference numeral 32 denotes a measurementapparatus (inputting means of the present invention) that measuresinformation for calculating a state amount of production, that is, ayield in this embodiment, of the production facility 31. As the stateamount of production, in addition to the above, a preferable parametersuch as a measurement apparatus for measuring a quality of a product, aproduction amount of a product or the like can be used according to atype of a product. Reference numeral 33 denotes a terminal apparatus(inputting means and/or outputting means of the present invention) thatis capable of inputting data in the computer 30, displaying storedcontents of a database installed in the computer 30 and displaying(outputting) a sales price of a material that is determined from aparameter representing a state of production of a product discussedlater or a state of production of a product.

Sales processing to be executed by such a system configuration will bedescribed with reference to the flow charts of FIGS. 2 and 3. FIG. 2shows processing procedures executed by the computer 30 of the productmanufacturing company. FIG. 3 shows processing procedures executed bythe computer 10 of the material supply company.

Descriptions will be made with the case in which a material ispolycarbonate as an example. Polycarbonate is shipped from the materialsupply company (hereinafter referred to as A company) to the productmanufacturing company (hereinafter referred to as B company). In doingso, information such as date and time of shipment is input from theterminal apparatus 11. The input information (information in thelowermost column of Table 1) is stored in the database within thecomputer 10 as shown in Table 1 (step S110 of FIG. 3).

TABLE 1 Data and time Selling Product Reference Sales Sales of shipmentGrade Lot company name Yield price price amount ′99.2.2.10:40 2 X100 OLighting 0.98 300 294 10 Company ′99.2.4.11:50 1 X200 x Disk 0.97 350330.5 20 Company — ′99.3.7.10:00 1 X103 B Disk 350 30 company

The transported polycarbonate is received by the product manufacturingcompany (B company) and supplied to the production facility 31. In doingso, information concerning the polycarbonate supplied to the productionfacility 31 (a purchase amount of a material or the like, information inthe lowermost column of Table 2) is stored in the database within thecomputer 30 as shown in Table 2 by input from the terminal apparatus 33or through the communication line 20 from the computer 10 (step S10 ofFIG. 2).

TABLE 2 Amount Date and time Purchasing Purchase Purchase of good ofarrival Grade Lot company Yield price amount product ′99.2.3.13:40 1Y100 Δ Company 0.98 370 15 14.7 ′99.2.5.13:50 2 Z200 □ Company 0.97 32025 24.25 — ′99.3.7.10:00 1 X103 B Company 30

A product produced in the production facility 31 is checked whether itis appropriate as a product in the measurement apparatus 32. Informationon appropriateness of the product is sent to the computer 30 and storedin the database within the computer 30 (step S20 of FIG. 2). A yield(product yield) is calculated by the computer 30 from the supply amountof the polycarbonate stored in the database of the computer 30 and theinformation on appropriateness of the product (step S30 of FIG. 2). Thecalculated yield is stored in the database within the computer 30 and,at the same time, transmitted to the computer 10 of the A companythrough the communication line 20 (step S40 of FIG. 2).

The transmitted yield is stored in the database within the computer 10(step S120 of FIG. 3). In addition, the yield is substituted for a yieldin a relational expression of a yield and a material price (expression 1below) defined in advance between the A company and the B company tocalculate a price of the polycarbonate shipped this time (step S130 ofFIG. 3). The calculated price of the polycarbonate is stored in thedatabase and, at the same time, transmitted to the B company through thecommunication line 30, and the B company is charged (step S140). Thetransmitted price of the polycarbonate is stored in the database 25 and,thereafter, the B company pays based on the transmitted price (step S50of FIG. 2). Further, payment may be made online by a method that isconventionally well known. In addition, the sales price and other datastored in the database are outputted to be displayed on the terminalapparatus 33 or outputted to be printed.

At the point when the price of the polycarbonate is stored in thedatabase within the computer 30, stored contents of the database withinthe computer 10 are as shown in Table 3 and stored contents of thedatabase within the computer 30 are as shown in Table 4.

TABLE 3 Data and time Selling Product Reference Sales Sales of shipmentGrade Lot company name Yield price price amount ′99.2.2.10:40 2 X100 OLighting 0.98 300 294 10 Company ′99.2.4.11:50 1 X200 x Disk 0.97 350330.5 20 Company — ′99.3.7.10:00 1 X103 B Disk 0.99 350 346.5 30 company

TABLE 4 Amount Date and time Purchasing Purchase Purchase of good ofarrival Grade Lot company Yield price amount product ′99.2.3.13:40 1Y100 Δ Company 0.98 370 15 14.7 ′99.2.5.13:50 2 Z200 □ Company 0.97 32025 24.25 — ′99.3.7.10:00 1 X103 B Company 0.99 346.5 30 29.7

It is sufficient to create a relation expression of a yield and amaterial price properly. For example, a relation expression as shownbelow is possible.Price=α×Reference price×(Yield+β)   (1)

Here, α is usually 1. However, since the product manufacturing companybecomes unprofitable if the yield is too small, α may be set equal to orlower than 1. For example, if the yield is 0 to 50%, α is set to 0.8,and if the yield is 50 to 80%, the α is set to 0.9 and if the yield ismore than 80%, the α is set to 1.0. β is set taking into account afactor that causes the yield to decrease due to manufacturing of aproduct regardless of a material. For example, if a material is perfectbut the yield is 97%, β is set to 0.03.

As described above, according to the sales system of this embodiment,the price falls if the yield is bad. Thus, the system is secure for theproduct manufacturing company. On the other hand, the material supplycompany can sell even a somewhat defective material without beinganxious about a claim. In addition, usually, prices of products otherthan a first grade product (second grade product, off-grade) extremelyfalls. However, according to the present invention, such products can besold at reasonable prices. In this embodiment, both the material supplycompany and the product manufacturing company can evaluate a materialrationally on the basis of a common criterion of the product yield.Thus, an effort to observe a useless specification unrelated to theproduct yield is no more necessary, and total manufacturing costs can becontrolled low.

In addition, in this embodiment, for the material supply company thathas been setting a large number of grades in order to observe aspecification set by the product manufacturing company, there is a meritin that a material of the same grade can be supplied to each productmanufacturing company. That is, if a material of a single grade can besupplied to product manufacturing companies and sold for a pricecorresponding to a yield, this may be often more advantageous in termsof earnings than manufacturing products of a large number of grades withincreased manufacturing costs.

As described above, in this embodiment, in short, the present inventionhas a lot of merits for the material supply company in that a rationalsales price can be maintained and, at the same time, it is no morenecessary to meet an excessive specification required by the productmanufacturing company and it becomes possible to reduce the number ofgrades to be manufactured to realize cost reduction by obtaining arational evaluation criterion of the product yield. In addition, thepresent invention is advantageous in that a low price can be requiredfor a material with a bad product yield. Further, since rationaljudgment can be made for a material on the basis of a common criterionof the product yield, total product manufacturing costs for the materialsupply company and the product manufacturing company can be controlledlow without the necessity of meeting an excessive specification.

Second Embodiment

In the first embodiment, the example is described in which the computer10 of the material supply company and the computer of the productmanufacturing company are connected by a communication line such as adedicated telephone line. Here, a second embodiment in which computersare connected via the Internet will be described. A system configurationof the second embodiment is shown in FIG. 4. In FIG. 4, a computer 210(which is another part of information processing means of the presentinvention and has a modem or the like as communication means) of thematerial supply company is connected to the Internet 220. Acommunication server 230 (having a modem or the like as communicationmeans) of the product manufacturing company is connected to the Internet220. A result of measurement of a measurement apparatus (correspondingto the measurement apparatus 32 of FIG. 1; inputting means of thepresent invention) within a production facility 250 and informationinput from a not-shown terminal apparatus (inputting means of thepresent invention) are sent to a communication server 240 (a part ofinformation processing means of the present invention). A yield iscalculated in the communication server 240. The calculated yield is sentto the computer 210 of the material supply company via the communicationserver 230. A sales price calculated by the computer 210 of the materialsupply company is sent to the communication server 240 via the Internet220 and the communication server 230. In this embodiment, thecommunication server 230 and the communication server 240 are connectedby an intra-company LAN 260.

The following embodiments can be implemented other than theabove-described embodiments.

-   1) The functions of the computer 10 and the computer 30 can be    realized by one computer. In this case, the computer may be    installed in either the material supply company or the product    manufacturing company.-   2) In the above-described embodiments, a yield is used as a    parameter for determining a sales price. In addition, various    parameters representing a production amount and a quality can be    used as a parameter representing a state of production of a product.-   3) It is sufficient for an expression for determining a sales price    of a material to include at least a parameter representing a state    of production of a product. It is needless to mention that the    expression may include other parameters such as a supply amount of a    material, a quality and the like.-   4) In the above-described embodiments, distributed processing is    performed in the computer systems installed in the material supply    company and the product manufacturing company to determine a sales    price. However, in a single computer system, a parameter    representing a state of production of a product may be input from a    keyboard or the like within the computer system, a sales price may    be determined using the parameter by a CPU within the computer    system, and the determined sales price may be outputted to be    displayed on a display within the computer system. In addition, the    parameter may be input from an external apparatus by communication.-   5) According to the present invention, the terminal apparatus means    an electronic apparatus equipped with at least inputting means for    inputting information in a computer and outputting means for    receiving information from the computer to output the information.    The terminal apparatus may be further equipped with information    processing means such as a CPU for performing information    processing. As the inputting means, a pointing device such as a    keyboard or a mouse, a communication apparatus for communicating    information to an external apparatus, a disk drive for reading    information from a recording medium such as a floppy disk, and the    like can be used. As the outputting means, a printing apparatus, a    memory apparatus, a communication apparatus for communicating    information to an external apparatus, and the like can be used other    than a display. According to the present invention, a form of using    the terminal apparatus is classified into the following cases.-   (1) A case in which a parameter representing a state of production    of a product is input by inputting means within a terminal    apparatus, a sales price is determined in information processing    means in the outside of the terminal apparatus using the    above-described parameter, and the determined sales prices is    outputted from outputting means within the terminal apparatus.-   (2) A case in which inputting means for inputting a parameter    representing a state of production of a product and information    processing means for determining a sales price using the    above-described parameter are provided outside a terminal apparatus,    and the determined sales price is outputted from outputting means    within the terminal apparatus.-   (3) A case in which inputting means for inputting a parameter    representing a state of production of a product is provided outside    a terminal apparatus, a sales price is determined by information    processing means within the terminal apparatus, and the determined    sales price is outputted from outputting means within the terminal    apparatus.-   (4) A case in which a parameter representing a state of production    of a product is input by inputting means within a terminal    apparatus, a sales price is determined by information processing    means within the terminal apparatus, and the determined sales price    is outputted from outputting means within the terminal apparatus.-   (5) Other cases    -   -   -   In the above-described cases of (1) to (4), data can be                transferred among the inputting means, the information                processing means and the outputting means by wire,                wireless or other communication or offline communication                using a recording medium. However, if the inputting                means or the like is provided outside the terminal                apparatus, it is preferably connected with the terminal                apparatus by a line. If the inputting means (and/or the                information processing means) is provided inside the                terminal apparatus, it is integrated with the outputting                means. For example, if the computer 10 of FIG. 1 is                integrated with the terminal apparatus 11, this means                that the computer 30 is integrated with the terminal                apparatus 33. Further, the terminal apparatus 11 of FIG.                1 is an example of a terminal apparatus in which the                inputting means and the outputting means of the present                invention are integrated. The terminal apparatus 33 of                FIG. 1 is an example of a terminal apparatus that                includes outputting means for outputting a sales price                determined by information processing means. Naturally,                it is also possible to input information for determining                a sales price.-   (6) A parameter representing a state of production of a product may    be input from a terminal apparatus. However, as explained in the    above-described embodiments, it is preferable to input the parameter    directly from a measurement apparatus (also functioning as inputting    means of the present invention) because input mistakes of a human    can be avoided.

As described above, according to the present invention, a sales price ofa material unilaterally determined by a material supply companyconventionally is determined according to a state of production of aproduct that is manufactured using the material. Consequently, even inthe case that becomes an object of a claim conventionally such as thecase in which a quality of a material falls and a yield is worsened,since sales costs of the material is automatically and objectivelydetermined, troubles and claims between the material supply company andthe product sales company decreases.

1. A material sales system comprising: calculating means for calculatingan expected product yield for a product that is manufactured by aproduct manufacturing company using a material supplied from a materialsupply company based on at least a quality of the supplied material,said expected product yield being calculated by the productmanufacturing company; transmitting means for transmitting thecalculated expected product yield from the product manufacturing companyto the material supply company; information processing means fordetermining a sales price of said material sold to the productmanufacturing company using at least the expected product yieldcalculated by said product manufacturing company; and outputting meansfor outputting the determined sales price from the material supplycompany to the product manufacturing company, wherein the materialsupply company sells the material to the product manufacturing companybased on the determined sales price, and wherein the productmanufacturing company calculates the expected product yield based on atleast the quality of the supplied material, which is then transmitted tothe material supply company for determining the sales price of thematerial based on a sales price equation previously agreed upon betweenthe product manufacturing company and the material supply company suchthat the product manufacturing company is directly involved withdetermining the sales price of the material.
 2. The material salessystem as claimed in claim 1, wherein said calculating means isinstalled in said product manufacturing company.
 3. The material salessystem as claimed in claim 1, wherein a part of said informationprocessing means is installed in said product manufacturing company andanother part of said information processing means is installed in saidmaterial supply company.
 4. The material sales system as claimed inclaim 1, wherein communication means is provided in each of saidmaterial supply company and said product manufacturing company, andsends and receives at least one of the parameter representing a state ofproduction of said product and said sales price between both thecommunication means through a communication line.
 5. The material salessystem as claimed in claim 1, wherein said parameter is resin and saidproduct.
 6. The material sales system as claimed in claim 1, whereinsaid product is an optical disk or an optical disk substrate.